Month: May 2013

It came to my attention this past weekend that I needed to treat my mom like a child when it comes to dogs.

Did I like treating her like a kid, repeating the same thing to her many times to ensure she would listen? No, absolutely not. Was it necessary? Definitely!

Many times we don’t always say what is on our mind when it comes to our dogs. We worry about what people might think of us, if they will be mad, laugh, or get upset with us if we do or say things that don’t seem “normal”. For example, this past weekend my parents were watching Oreo. My brother and sister-in-law were stopping over for a few minutes. I told my mom to put her in the bedroom when they came over. “It’s just Den and Lila, she’ll be fine,” was my mother’s response. “No, she won’t be fine. Please put her in the bedroom, it’s better to be safe than sorry,” I replied. “Oh come on Jess, don’t be ridiculous…” The conversation continued like this until I basically had to annoy her and get her to comply. Yes, she was doing us a favor watching the dog, but Oreo is a bite risk if left around strangers (she doesn’t see them much at all). I called the night before my brother was coming over to remind her. Did she get angry? YES! She told me not to treat her like a child, that she knows. I tried to explain why I reminded her, yet she didn’t quite understand.

That’s the point, PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND. We need to stick up for our dogs and for what makes them comfortable or uncomfortable. They don’t have a voice, so we need to speak for them.

If I didn’t speak up to my mom Oreo could’ve easily bitten or had a bad experience that couldn’t worsened her reactivity. Maybe she would have been fine with them, but why risk it?

Sometimes we have to treat other people like children, beacause they just don’t get it. People who aren’t associated with dog training or have had a reactive/scared dog just don’t get it. What’s worse is that they don’t believe you. When you tell people your dog will NOT be okay in a certain situation you are most likely met with the comment, “Oh well she’ll be okay, don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” This is where you have to be your dogs’ protector. You can protect your pup many ways, but one of the most powerful ways is to speak up even if you feel uncomfortable. Trust me, things will work out better and after you have stuck up for your dog (even if you’ve offended someone) you will feel better and so will your dog.

So go ahead, treat someone like a child if they don’t understand. Stand up for your dog!

We are going through the loss of my father-in-law right now and one thing that seems to always cheer us up is Oreo.

Dogs can lower your blood pressure and help depression. Just stroking your pet can lower your anxiety and stress levels.

Everyone has had a hard time in their life and if you’ve had a dog you know that they can sense it. They can see the slump in your shoulders or the fall in your face and read your body language to know your upset. Has your dog ever cheered you up? Licked your face while you cried? Snuggled next to you when you felt alone? Well, if so you have experience how wonderful dogs are for stress, anxiety, and depression.

-Research shows that many people smile more around dogs and feel more at ease.

-If you have a life where people are telling you what to do, how to do it, and when to do it-a dog can help you! Many people overwhelmed by complicated relationships find the companionship of a dog that loves you unconditionally very beneficial.

-Isolated people who are shutting the world out have a friend, their friendly fido.

-For someone who doesn’t have many friends, a dog can bring them many social contacts. Taking walks, dog classes and going to the park offer social opportunities.

-When you are depressed you may feel like doing nothing. However, if you have a pup you are forced to take some responsibility and have a schedule. You have to feed the dog, walk the dog, etc.

-This brings me to my next point-exercise. Exercise can help depression-people with dogs are more active as a whole.

-Dogs do many funny things, in turn this promotes laughter.

Dogs aren’t for everyone, especially people with severe depression. However, if you have a pup I bet you smile, laugh, and love more!

Oreo has been there for us through many rough times. She has laid next to my husband and I when we were sad. She’s licked our faces when we cried. After a rough day she has greeted us with wonderful wags and a happy face. When we were away visiting hospice my husband commented on how he wished Oreo could come with us (she is too scared to go to stranger’s houses). I asked him why and he responded, “She makes me happy.”

Do you have a personal story when your dog helped you feel better? Feel free to share!

Long time-no write! It’s been almost a month and I’ve been SLACKING! To tell the truth we’ve been house hunting. It’s been a long road and apparently the housing market has rocketed so after 5 hours we still don’t have a new house. Lucky for us though, we can rent from the guy who bought our condo!

Oreo news…took her to the vet today-everything looked great. We are waiting results from normal tests to make sure, but she did great! Since it’s allergy season she has been itching more but it’s still under control.

Storytime…
Yesterday I was walking Oreo and in the distance two dogs appeared with their owner as I rounded the corner. They were probably 50 feet away and her 2 large dogs started lunging, barking and growling. The lady was so small and the dogs were so large it was hard for me to understand why she would even risk bringing them on a walk together. Oreo barked and lunged, but followed me away and quickly recovered. We walked parallel to another labrador across the street and she did wonderful!

It’s amazing to see how far she has come. I remember when I was that lady with a dog going wild and praying people would walk away with their dogs and not linger. I thank management, figuring out her allergies, and training for her great progress. Management can be a key-that lady with the dogs made me realize how much management can make a difference.

When I leave the house I make sure all the blinds are closed so my dog doesn’t bark at people. I don’t take her to parties or have strangers to the house. If I really want people she doesn’t know well to come over, I drop her at my parents (she is deathly afraid of crates due to small space). My friends always ask how my dog is doing and I tell them great. She is great-she’ll never be “normal” and nor do I want to force her to do things she is uncomfortable with. I will never be 100% sure, no matter how much training that she won’t bite or snap at someone she doesn’t know in our house-so no amount of training will entrust me to let her run free around strangers. She’s never bitten or attacked people in my home, but I just don’t want it to happen since I’ve seen her bark and lunge at people.

She’s good with car rides but if she had an issue I’m sure I would find something to block her from seeing outside. Whatever the issue is I’m sure we could train or manage. The woman with the 2 dogs didn’t seem to have common sense. I don’t exactly know the situation but to me they seemed like 2 reactive very large dogs who could’ve easily pulled her away. I hope she learns to take one dog walking at a time to help train them or at least manage them better.